Brian Lamb, CEO of C-Span, interviewed Janet Tavakoli regarding the causes of the global financial meltdown and how to fix it. She said Tim Geithnerâs cozy relationship with bailees made his appointment a mistake. Hank Paulson was an "interested man," Robert Rubin was hyped as "risk wizard" but wasn't, the Fed's bailouts are not transparent and more. With respect to investment banks' phony (some of them) securitizations, she calls the results a "massive crime on the American economy." She posted clarifying notes on inflation potentially devaluing bank deposits, Robert Rubin, and whether or not the activity was illegal: http://www.tavakolistructuredfinance.com/CSPAN.html VIDEO: http://www.q-and-a.org/Video/?ProgramID=1228 or on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA20Am0pwtA&feature=channel Transcript: http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1228 <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WA20Am0pwtA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WA20Am0pwtA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Uhm, Robert Ruben so completely outclasses Geithner that there simply is no rational comparison possible. Ruben was a damned good Tres. Sect. And I'm a republican.
Well, there is a difference between illegal and immoral. If what the banks did was allowed by law, you cannot win a conviction for any crimes. Why do you think very few besides Madoff are being prosecuted?
She did say that selling the phony securitizations may be a violation of securities laws, and then on her site says it is a matter for the Department of Justice. This came out before the news about Paulson pressuring Ken Lewis not to disclose losses to shareholders prior to the Merrill merger, and she also has something on her web site about that titled "Ken Lewis Must Go": http://www.tavakolistructuredfinance.com/bofa.html If this is a failure to disclose material information...it appears to be and Tavakoli has some pretty compelling stuff...and Paulson pressured Lewis not to disclose while handing out taxpayer money to Merrill and BofA...I am guessing there will be a further investigation.
Just listened to almost the whole hour. Now, this is the type of non-insider we need as an economic adviser in Washington for real change. It seems like many of the same old guys were recycled for new jobs.
Unless Lewis has it in writing or has several witnesses to back him up, the defenses of plausible deniability and misinterpretation enter.
Good point, endsongs. Here's the transcript that goes with the video: http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1228
http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/24/steve-forbes-geithner-intelligent-investing-fed.html GEITHNER SHOULD RESIGN Forbes.com Steve Forbes 04.27.09, 6:00 AM ET Timothy Geithner, get out of the way! It looks to me like our Treasury secretary, a few months into the job, is trying to usurp Hank Paulson's status as the worst Treasury Secretary in history. Treasury Secretary Geithner isn't a newcomer to this financial crisis. As chairman of the New York Fed, he was intricately involved in the last administration's attempts to quell the credit markets. Geithner was supposedly going to hit the ground running, but instead he took an inordinate amount of time to come up with a pointlessly complicated plan to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets. The banks don't need to get rid of these assets, and they're not all actually toxic. All the banks need is time and regulators who will let them realistically price their assets at around 60 cents on the dollar. Recent revisions to mark-to-market rules were a step in the right direction, but they weren't sweeping enough. Now, Geithner wants to undermine them in favor of his own plan. Geithner's plan will grant favored institutions access to taxpayer dollars so they can profit massively by underpaying for assets with free leverage. If you're not one of them, the whole plan stinks. No wonder Geithner has to keep going back to the drawing boards. It's early in Mr. Geithner's term, but it's not too early to show him the door. At least we can hope for someone better.
She should look over her shoulder as she's obviously now a 'threat to national security'. Bet she's got the 'terrorist' cops on her tail PS. There's a potential 'terrorist' hiding behind every wheely bin don't you know......